Mining transfer car



ma 21,1929; EQPRATT 1,114,239

MINING TRANSFER CAR Filed March 20, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 A i I. a?

I L e- I r us 9 J [k n IO z '4 1 w lnvenro r f' 1 4 .2 ,Emesr C E mrF {\Ho rngys 1 MINING TRANSFER CAR Filed March 20, 192 6 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnfenfor: Ernesr C. PraH- Ma 21, 1929. PRATT 1,714,239

MINING TRANSFER CAR Filed March 20, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Im/enror: a Ernesr CPmHi May 21, 1929. c, PRATT 1,714,239

MINING TRANSFER CAR Ernesr C Profi- Patented May 21, 1929. I

UNITED STATES" 1 ERNEST ,o. PRATT, or MINNEAPOLIShMINNESOTA.

' MINING TRANSFER can.

Application filed March 20, 1926. Serial No. 96,223.-

My invention relates to coal handling apparatus for use in COfllIlllIllIlg such as transfer cars used in transferring the coal from the loader to the pit cars in which the coal is to be hauled to the mine shaft, and particularly to the type of transfer car capable of being loaded where head room is limited and which is adapted to, straddle the cars of the trip and to move along the same 1Q and to discharge the coal therein under conditions where limited head room obtains. I

An object of the invention resides in providing a pair of spaced Wheel supported frames connected together at the top and 5 adapted to carry a hopper having a conveyor along the bottom thereof for the purpose of discharging the coal from said hopper into any of the cars of the trip.

Another'object of the invention consists in pivotally attaching said hopper at one end to said framev so that the opposite end of the hopper may be lowered to permit of loading thesame from the usual loader.

A still further object of the invention residesin providing a, pneumatically actuated toggle lever system for raising and lowering the movable end of said hopper.

Another object of the invention resides in.

forming said frame members L shaped and connecting them together at their upper portions and in supporting said hopper at said elevated portion, said hopper being tiltable towards the lower portions of said frames. A still further object of the invention re; sides in connecting said toggle lovers to the lower portions of said frames and the movable portion of said hopper and'in attaching cylinders to .said frames at the vertexes thereof and connecting pistons in said cylin- 4 ders to the joints in said toggle levers.

A feature of the invention resides in providing the transfer car with motive power for operatin said conveyor, raising and lowering sai hopper and propelling said 4 transfer car.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear in the following description, the invention resides in the novel combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings illustrating my invention in one form: V y

a Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a .room neck or entry'in' a mine showing the relative position of my improved transfer car with respect to thecars of a trip in said room neck;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the transfer car and a trip car taken substantially on line 22 of Fig.1 and drawn to a larger scale.

Fig. 3 is a right hand elevational view of the transfer car as viewed from Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a left hand elevational View similar to Fig. 3. i

Fig- 5 is a horizontal sectional view as on the line 55 of Fig. 4. a

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of one of the corners of the hopper.

taken My improved transfer car is used" in the mining of coal and serves to receive and carry coal placed therein by the usual coal loader and to discharge the coal'in any'of a number of pit cars making up a trip for carrying the coal away from the face. The result is accomplished by constructing the transfer car so that it straddles the pitcars and runs on a track parallel with the track of said pit cars and by supporting the coal hopper thereof above .said, cars so that the coal therein may be deposited in any of the particular pit cars adj acentwhich the trans fer car is positioned. For loading thetrans fer car the hopper thereof is arranged to tilt downwardly at one end so that the ordinary loader may discharge into it.

. In. order to show theapplication of. my

improved transfer car, I have illustrated in,

Figs. 1 and 2 a portionof amine showing an entry or neck. A leading into the place. where the coal is being mined Upon the floor-'10 of this mine is laid'an ordinary track B1 consisting of, ties 11 and rails 12 spiked thereto. This track carries a trip C comprising a, number of pit cars 13 'which are'con-l Each of. these structed in the usual manner. pit cars consists of a truck 118, having car wheels 119 running on the rails 12 and carries a box or body 120 forholdin'gthe coal dis charged therein. The various pit cars .13 may be coupled together in; any suitable manner and any number of cars which can" be convenientlyhandl'ed may be coupled upto form the trip. tion and the method of handling and propelling the trips being well known in the art have not been disclosed in theapplication.

In the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings, I have shown a structure which is carried by two rails 14 and 15 placed parallel with and outside of the rails 12, being fastened to the ends of the ties 11 which are somewhat longer than usual to accommodate the same. The transfer car'co'mprises two frames E and F best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. Each of these frames consists of two forked castings 16 and17 in which are journaled car wheels 18 and 19 adapted to ride upon the rails 14 and 15.

- These wheels are preferably constructed with double flanges 20 for the purpose of keeping the same upon their respective rails. The castings 16 and 17 are connected together with longitudinal tie bars 21 by means of which the same are held in proper relation to each other. Issuingupwardly from the castings 17, are two posts 21 which are provided with heads 22 adapted to receive and rigidly hold a fixed transverse shaft 23, the same tying the frames E and F together to form a rigid unitary frame structure adapted to straddle the pit cars of the trip.

The super-structure of the loader which consists of a hopper H together with the necessary driving and. operating mechanism and the framework and supporting structure appurtenant therctois carried on and supported partially by the shaft 23 and in part by another structure presently. to be described. Said hopper H consists of two sides or guards 24 and 25 held together and in proper relation by means of two cross bars 26 and 27 which have their ends 28 turned upwardly and are bored to form bearings 29 and 30. These bars are firmly secured to the sides 24 and 25 through the portions 28 thereof. The shaft 23 passes through the bearings 29 which serve to hold the hopper H pivoted to said shaft 23 so that said. hopper may tilt from its horizontal position, as illustrated in full lines in 4 to its inclined position, as shown in dotted lines in the same figure; 7

Between the sides24 and 25 of hopper H is positioned a conveyor J consisting of a continuous belt 31 which passes over two rollers 32 and 33 positioned at the ends of the hopper H and mounted on shafts 34 and 35 journaled in bearings 36 secured to the sides 24 and 25/ At frequent intervals along the sides 24 and 25 are mounted'idler rollers 37 which are journaled in said sides to assist in carrying the weight of thc coal on the conveyor J.

At the receiving end of the hopper H is an end-gate 38 rigidly secured to the sides 24 and 25. At the discharge end'of the con- The detailes of construe;

veyor are positioned two swinging gates 89 and 40 which are hingedly connected by means of hinges 41 and 42 to the sides 24 and 25, said gates being adapted to come together end to end upon closing. These end gates are identical in construction and are each provided with an arm 43 rigidly secured thereto and extending outwardly therefrom. Across the hopper H is positioned a shaft 44, the same being journaled in the sides 24 and 25 and having attached to the ends thereof two cranks and 46. The crank 45 has a hand lever 47 connected with it by means of which the shaft 44 may be rocked. The arms 43 and the cranks 45 and 46 are pivotally connected by means of links 48 which cause the ates 39 and 40 to open or close as the hand lever 47 is operated. hen the cranks 45 and 46 and the links 48 have just passed dead center the gates 39 and 40 are closed and thus held against any pressure of coal tiereagainst. In such position of said gates 39 and 40, the lever 47 engages a spring keeper 49 and is yieldingly held in place thereby.

The free end. of hopper H is supported by a raising and lowering device comprising two units K and L. These units being identical. in construction, only the unit- Ilwill be doscribed in detail. To the casting 16 at .is pivoted a lever 50 which in turn is pivoted at 51 to another lever 52. The lever 52 has secured to it a stub shaft 54 whichv is journaled in the bearing 30 of the portion 28 of the hopper cross bar 27. These levers form a system of toggle levers between the receiving end of the hopper H and the frames E and F. Said levers are operated by means of cylinders 55 formed with lugs 56 pivoted tothe castings 17 with pins 57. lVithin'each of the cylinders 55 is a movable piston (not shown) from which issues a piston rod 58,

said piston rod being connected at its outer end to one pair of links 50 and 52 through pivot pin 51. By the movement of the pistons within the cylinders 55, the receiving end of. the convcyor H can be raised or lowered at will to occupy either of its extreme positions as shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. 4.

For operating the conveyor J and the raising and lowering units K and L, I employ an electric motor 59 which is mounted on a platform 60 secured to the rear por tion of the receiving cndof hopper H. This motor has a shaft 61 extending outwardly beyond said motor and journaled in two bearings 62 and 63 bolted to the platform 66. A compressor or pump 64 is bolted to the side 24 of hopper H and is driven from the shaft 61 by a chain 65 passing over a sprocket wheel 66 fast on said shaft and. over a driving sprocket 67 of the pump 64. The pump 64 may be of any of the well known types of pumps and is connected with the cylinders 55 through a pipeline 68 leading from said pump to'the rear of the hopper H. This pipe line extends across said hopper and has connected to it two flexible tubes 69, and 70, each connected to one of the cylinders 55. By means of a valve 71 in the pipe line 68 fluid under pressure may be admitted to the cylinders to cause the pistons thereof to move outwardly and. raise the receiving end of hopper H. Upon closing valve 71, the fluid within cylinders 55 is trapped holding the hopper in elevated position. By means of a relief valve 72 the fluid pumped from pump 64 is exhausted into the atmosphere. As soon as thevalve 71 is opened the fluid within cylinders55 is permitted to escape through the relief valve 72 thereby allowingthe pistons to recede within said cylinders and to lower the end of the hopper H, as previously (ex--- plained. For operating cylinders 55 compressed air is perhaps the most convenient though it can be readily understood that any other fluid may be used by leading the exhaust fluid back to the pump.

The conveyor J is operated from motor 59 througha drive illustrated in Fig. 3. Upon the end of shaft 61 is mounted a worm 73 which meshes with a worm wheel 74 fast upon a longitudinally disposed shaft 75. This shaft is journaled. in bearings 76, 77 and 78 bolted to the side 25 of hopper H. In axial alignment with this shaft is another shaft 79 which is journaled in bearings 80 and 81, also attached to theside 25 'of hopper H. Upon the end of shaft 79 is secured a bevel gear 82 which meshes with another bevel gear 83 fast upon the end of shaft 34 carrying the roller 32 of conveyor J.

.The abutting ends of shafts 75 and 79 have mounted thereon a jaw clutch 84 which is adapted to be shifted by means of a shifter fork 85 secured to a transversely disposed shaft 86. This shaft extends across the hopper H being journaled in bearings 87 bolted to the sides 24 and 25. To the opposite endof the shaft-86 is attached a hand 88 by-means ofv which said clutch 84 may be operated to drive conveyor J from motor 59 or to disconnect it therefrom.

For propelling the transfer car along the rails 14 and 15, I employ two electric motors 89 and90 which are attached to the frames hi 'hl i advanta rous in mines where the b z-. V

track is frequently quite uneven.

, Forcontrollingthe motors operating the I transfer car, I employ two controllers 97 and 98, thesame'being mounted on the post 21. Thesecontrollers are wired up with their. respective motors by cables (not shown) and are connected with a suitable source of electrical energy. The controller 97 is connected to the motor 59 while. controller 98 controls both motors 89 and 90 whichv operate in unison. The controller 98 is provided with a reversing mechanism so that the device may :be propelled in either direction.

: .It will be noted that all of the controls and operating levers ofthe invention are' collected at the forward .end of the machine in reach of the operator who may be sta- 'tioned on a platform 99 attached to the :3

frame A. From'his station on this plat form the operator can readily observethe road to rear and ahead of'him and'can see the operation of thevarious operating parts of the device. In addition he can operate and manipulate the machine so as to cause it to perform its intended functions.

In the use of the invention the transfer car is run along the rails 14 and 15'until it comes upto the usual loader used. for scoop-' the point of discharge of the loader, such asv shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The loader is then caused to discharge the coal into hopper H and the conveyor J is actuated for short periods at sufficiently frequent intervals to cause said conveyor to become uniformly loaded throughout its entire length. The loading is then discon tinued and the receiving end of hopper H raised upon admitting air under pressure into cylinders55 by opening the valve 71 and closing the valve 72. As soon as the hopper H is in its elevated position, valve 71 is closed and the entire structure caused to be propelled to any desired pit car in the trip into which it is desired to depositthe coal. Upon shifting lever 47 the gates 39 and-40 are opened to clear the discharge end of the hopper. This allows the-conveyor J to discharge the coal carried'thereby over the roller 32, when the lever 88 is shift,- ed to couple the shaft 79 with shaft through the agency jaw clutch 84. As soon as the coal has been discharged from conveyor J, the gates 39 and 40 are. again.

closed and-the transfer car again propelled pacclf to the coal loader to receive another The invention is advantageous in that a portion only of the coal hopper need be raised and lowered in the operation of loading the same, "he hopper being pivotally supported at one end. The two frame members straddling the pit cars are securely tied together at their upper ends to form a very rigid structure. A simple means for raising and lowering the movable end of the hopper is employed in which compli cated driving mechanism is eliminated and in which the movement can be easily controlled. In fact, the very simple device is capableof effective operation, at maximum capacity, within the limited head'and side room afforded in mine entries and rooms.

Changes in the specific form of my invention, as herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A transfer car comprising a pair of spaced wheel supported frames adapted to straddle a pit car, means connecting said frames together at the top thereof and toward one end, and a movable hopper mount ed on said frame and supported partly on said connecting means and movable between said frames.

2. A transfer car comprising a pair of spaced L-shaped wheel supported frames adapted to straddle a pit car, a shaft securing said frames together at the upper portions thereof, and a hopper pivotally mounted on said shaft and movable between said frames.

3. A transfer car comprising a pair of L- shaped wheel supported frames, a shaft securing said frames together at the upper portions, and a hopper pivotally mounted at one end on said shaft, and means for raising and lowering the other end of said hopper.

4. A transfer car comprising a pair of spaced L-shaped wheel supported frames, a shaft securing said frames together at the upper portions, a hopper pivotally mounted at one end on said shaft, the other end being movable towards the lower end of said frames and between the same and means connected with the lower end of each of the frames and the movable end of said hopper for raising and lowering said hopper.

5. A transfer car comprising a wheel supported frame structure, a hopper pivoted at one end thereto, a system of toggle levers for supporting the other end of said hopper and means for operating said toggle levers.

6. A transfer car comprising a wheel supported frame structure, a hopper pivoted at one end thereto, a system of toggle levers for supporting the other end of said hopper,

adapted to straddle a pit car, a shaft connecting said frames together at the upper portions thereof, a hopper pivoted at one end on said shaft being normally positioned above said pit car, toggle levers linked together at one end and connected at their other ends to the other end of said hopper and to the bottoms of said frames, cylinders pivoted to said frames at the vertexes thereof, and pistons movable within said cylinders and connected to said levers at their linked ends.

8. A transfer car comprisinga pair of spaced vL-shaped wheel supported frames, adapted to straddle a pit car, a shaft connecting said frames together at the upper portions thereof, a hopper pivoted at one end on said shaft being normally positioned above said nit car, toggle levers linked together at one end and connected at their other ends to the end of said hopper and to the bottoms of said frames, cylinders pivoted to said frames at the vertexes thereof, and pistons movable within said cylinders and connected tosaid levers at their linked ends, a motor on said hopper, a pump driven thereby and piping connecting said cylinders with said pump.

9. A transfer car comprising a pair of spaced. L-shaped wheel supported frames adapted to straddle a pit car, a shaft secur- 'ing said frames together at the upper portions thereof abovesaid pit car, a hopper pivotally mounted on said shaft and operating means on each of said frames for raising and lowering said hopper, said hopper being movable between said frames.

'10. A transfer car comprising a pair of wheel supported frames, each frame formed with a horizontal frame portion and a vertical frame portion extending upwardly from the horizontal frame portion at one end thereof, supporting wheels attached to the ends of said horizontal frame portion, a shaft extending across the upper end of said vertical frame portions for connecting the same together, a hopper pivoted upon said shaft and extending along said frames in the direction of said horizontal frame portions and means for each frame tiltably connecting the ends of said horizontal frame portions remote from said vertical frame portions to the portions of'said hopper immediately thereabove. I

11. A transfer car comprising a pair of wheel supported frames, each frame-formed with a horizontal frame portion and a. vertical frame portion extending upwardly from the horizontal frame portion at one end thereof, supporting Wheels attached to the ends of said horizontal frame portion, a shaft extending across the upper end of said verticalv frame portions for connecting the same together, a hopper pivoted upon said shaft and extending along said frames in the.

direction of said horizontal frame portions and means for each frame tiltably connecting the ends of said horizontal frame portions remote from said vertical framepor- 10 tions to the portions of said hopper immediately thereabove and means for simulta-- neously operating both of said connecting name to this specification.

ERNEST C. PRATT. 

